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Showell Students Excel In Media Fest

NEWARK – Showell Elementary School was one of three schools in Maryland to have a winning entry in the 2006-2007 International Student Media Festival (ISMF). In fact, Showell Elementary School had three winning entries, a school record for one awards cycle.

“Achieving this degree of success spotlights the talents and ingenuity of our students,” said Showell Elementary Principal Paula Jones. “It also highlights the commitment to technology and the high expectations of our teachers. Students, with guidance from their teachers, worked diligently to go above and beyond; good projects transformed to great, and that’s representative of our Showell spirit of pride.”

The international winning entries for Showell Elementary were in the Kindergarten to Grade 3 category. The 2006-2007 winners were as follows: Arlene Hager’s Kindergarten class produced a class project in the Sequential Stills media type, titled Oh, the Faces You Might See at Showell Elementary; Jennette Mears’ Kindergarten class produced a class project in the Sequential Stills media type, titled ABC’s of Showell Elementary; and Zachary Davis produced an individual project in the Live Action Video media type, titled Rubber Band Racer versus Boss Mustang.

Hager’s Kindergarten class project was completed in the fall of 2006, shortly after school started. According to Hager, the project aligned with one of the classroom orientation goals on community, familiarizing students with the people in a school community who make the school function properly. She was also able to incorporate mathematics and social studies in the project, in addition to reading and language arts.

Mears’ kindergarten class project was created during the spring of the 2005-2006, but was eligible for entry into the 2006-2007 judging cycle. The Sequential Stills entry was a PowerPoint project, featuring a special aspect of Showell Elementary which corresponded with a letter of the alphabet. Justin Hammond, who is now a second-grader, remembers the project well.

“I did B for Bus and X for X marks the spot [for Showell Elementary on the map],” said Justin.

His favorite aspect of the project was downloading animated clip art of a bus and using Yahoo to insert a map of Berlin/Showell. “I also liked S is for Song,” added Justin, “because we got to sing the Showell song, but clip art was still my favorite.”

Davis created his ISMF winning Live Action Video project last year, when he was in Peggy Timmons’ first-grade class. Davis’ project was similar to a science project in that he wanted to see which car would win in a race: a rubber band racer or a Boss Mustang. Davis chose to film the racing event on a digital recorder. He wrote a script which he commentated during the live action event.

“I liked taping the race and saying all my lines,” said Zachary.

ISMF winners are invited to an awards ceremony in Anaheim, Calif., from Oct. 25-27. Attendees will get to see winning entries from across the country and will be recognized for their outstanding achievements. In addition, workshops are offered for students and sponsors in order to expand their media knowledge and to inspire them for next year’s entries. “The conference is really an opportunity of a lifetime for our students,” said Jones. “We’re hoping that students who participated in the entries will be able to attend.” The trip is expensive and the school will be holding fundraisers to help defray the costs.

To learn more about the fundraiser or to make a donation, call the school at 410-632-5350.